As Arkansas emerges as one of the states with the highest per capita COVID-19 deaths, Governor Asa Hutchinson on Thursday defended his decision to keep much of the economy, including schools, open during the pandemic. 

"It's all about maintaining a balance through the last year, and we never shut down our economy in Arkansas — [I] did not think that was the right decision," Hutchinson told Cheddar. 

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences released a report on Tuesday that the state — with a total of 5,273 COVID deaths as of March 5 — has a higher per capita death rate than hard-hit states such as New York, Texas, Florida, and California

The governor, however, made the case that the state's higher death rate was not related to its pandemic response, but rather existing health indicators throughout the U.S. South. 

"When you talk about the great tragedy of the death rates, that's sad," he said. "It's something that we want to avoid, but obviously when you look at the Southern states there's some health indicators that are not high on the scale, and I think history will look back and see exactly some of those reasons. But, I think we've maintained the balance through this here in Arkansas."

Hutchinson said he was aiming to end the state's mask mandate by March 31. At that point, the mandate would become guidance. 

He noted that one criterion was the state reaching a positivity rate below 10 percent. The current rate is 2.9 percent. 

The governor said private companies, however, will still have the right to mandate mask use, and that the state would incentivize them to follow the guidelines by offering liability protection.  

"We also give them an incentive that if they follow guidelines, then they're going to have business liability immunity, so you can't be sued for somebody getting coronavirus if you're following the guidelines," he said. 

Arkansas Near-Total Abortion Ban

Hutchinson also commented on his decision to sign a bill that represents a near-total ban on abortions in the state, including in cases of rape or incest, all but ensuring a challenge to Roe. v. Wade that could make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

While the governor had expressed support for those exceptions in the past, he said he signed the bill due to his overall pro-life stance and desire to bring a challenge in front of the conservative Court. 

"This was designed to give a challenge to the Supreme Court and an option to reverse Roe versus Wade," he said. "Yes, I would have preferred to have the rape and incest exceptions in there. I think that would make it more amenable to the Supreme Court to review the case, because it has more popular acceptance, but in Arkansas, you can override the governor's veto by a simple majority vote." 

The bill had overwhelming support in the state legislature, he added. 

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